anthology: remains.

Question 1

what is the purpose or meaning of the text?

Answer 1

 Written to coincide with a TV documentary about those returning from war with PTSD.
 Based on Guardsman Tromans, who fought in Iraq in 2003.
 Speaker describes shooting a looter dead in Iraq and how it has affected him.
 To show the reader that mental suffering can persist long after physical conflict is over.

Question 2

what is the context around the text?

Answer 2

 “These are poems of survivors – the damaged, exhausted men who return from war in body but never, wholly, in mind.” Simon Armitage.
 Poem coincided with increased awareness of PTSD amongst the military, and aroused sympathy amongst the public – many of whom were opposed to the war.

Question 3

language and structure: explanation and quotes.

Answer 3

 “Remains” – images of war/suffering remain.
 “Legs it up the road” - colloquial language = authentic voice
 “Then he’s carted off in the back of a lorry” – reduction of humanity to waste or cattle.
 “he’s here in my head when I close my eyes/ dug in behind enemy lines” – metaphor for a war in his head; the PTSD is entrenched.
 Monologue, told in the present tense to convey a flashback (a symptom of PTSD).
 Repetition of ‘Probably armed, Possibly not” conveys guilt and bitterness.